AC: I want to thank my Beta-reader for proof-reading this chapter and all the previous ones I forgot to mention.

Tom prepared to visit Phelphor. He hadn't seen Phelphor in a long time. A few months he guessed. Intress told him that he was still in jail, but was being treated fairly. It reassured the teenager. He had so many things to tell him. "Now that I think about it, I'm making friends with M'arrillians," he chuckled a bit nervously. It was like when he disliked the Mipedians. Thanks to Peyton he understood that a tribe wasn't made up of good and evil.

Who would have known that this lesson would apply with the M'arrillians. His friends were busy with their scan hunt. He couldn't participate for now.

The teenager noticed a strange creature he had never seen before.

A creature made of rock stood to the side and tapped his fingers nervously. His eyes seemed to be in awe at the sight. He looked at the humans wandering around. He put his hand on his chest as if he was trying to keep something from exploding.

The teenager found it funny, still, he had to pay a visit to Phelphor. He would try and talk to the strange creature another time. He walked to the portal and ported to Kiru city.

Epilogue Part 2: A Future Of Freedom

He teleported in front of the castle. He hoped the guards would let him in. He didn't want to cause trouble. The city was full and many creatures wandered around. He knew that most of the Overworlders were back now.

"Tom," Arias said with respect, he slapped the back of the boy and sent him to the ground, "Sorry!" He quickly helped the teenager stand up.

"I'm fine," he let out a small smile. He knew that his courage against the M'arrillians was the reason he respected him. His mood soured in his mind, when he remembered he had blood in his hands. M'arrillian blood. It didn't make him feel better about it. Still, it only stung him when he thought about it, like right now. He gazed at the creature, "I came to visit Phelphor. Can I see him?"

"Yes, you can. Maxxor told us you could," Arias crossed his arms and grumbled, "I wish those negotiations with your human rulers went faster. Why are there so many for one tribe?"

Tom chuckled nervously, "You can say we are many tribes in a way. Some live in the desert like the Mipedians while others in places more like here. No one is under the ground for all I know."

"More than two hundred tribes," Arias concluded.

The teenager nodded.

He reached the prison and stood at the entrance when a guard stood in his way.

"Sorry Tom, but we cannot let you in here alone with the prisoners around," one of the guards said.

The boy found it weird that they just didn't try to chase him or use harsh words. He guessed being the 'guide' was the source of it. He wouldn't complain about those benefits.

Arias spoke with them, "Let him in. I'll accompany him. He won't be alone. Besides, Phelphor saved him."

The guards let them through and they entered the prison.

The interior wasn't giving any sense of safety or comfort for the prisoners. Tom could hear the water dripping on the ground, the walls covered with a bit of moisture. The bars of the jails were large and solid. It was clear no one could escape by brute force. Unless they knew how to obtain the key, to lockpick, or to corrupt a guard, there was no other way.

"Is Phelphor in the back?"

"Yes. For safety reasons. Also, anyone who comes in contact with him needs to protect their mind, that includes you Tom," he gave him a headgear and put one on himself.

"Thanks."

"Tom. You are a brave boy. You are small and not that strong, but you are brave," Arias told him.

"T-thanks," he didn't know what to say.

"Still not over your mother shooting me."

"I'm sure seeing a creature when you were sure they don't exist is cause enough to do so."

"Hope it won't continue once we can visit the Cothica."

"Earth."

"I'll call it the Cothica," he grinned.

Tom cringed. He reached the point where his world being named the Cothica made him cringe. He decided not to reply when they reached the jail cell Phelphor was in.

The pink creature raised his head, "H- Tom!" He quickly stood up with a small smile on his face, "You've been gone for so long! What happened? Are you okay?"

"I'm okay. And you? How is it going here?"

The M'arrillian scratched the back of his head, "Better than I thought. I didn't forget what I did during the war. It's thanks to you that I'm treated like this."

"He saved your life Tom, and it meant a lot for Maxxor, especially when you proved it," Arias added.

"Still, what happened to you? I heard that Maxxor had gone somewhere else and that it was quieter outside for a while," Phelphor needed to know if something happened. He noticed there was something a bit different with Tom somehow.

"That is a long story. There is a lot that happened while I was gone. The M'arrillians invaded my world."

"What?" The pink creature yelled in disbelief.

"You really know nothing at all," the teenager whispered. He thought he might have been filled in on what his tribe did. He was wrong, Phelphor knew nothing about it.

Tom told him everything that happened to him and his friends during the M'arrillian invasion of Chaotic and Earth. Phelphor felt his jaw drop as he heard everything that happened. He put his hands together when the teenage boy reached the end.

"Milla'iin managed to capture me and Sarah, but as you can see, we are safe and sound. It was over a month ago."

"You took a while to come back here," the pink creature joked.

"Yesterday… that was when Chaotic was fixed and we could return. I couldn't come even if I could. There is… another thing that happened with Milla'iin," Tom scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Is he dead?"

"No. He is not dead. He surrendered when he realized that everything Aa'une said was a lie. I saw him a few times. He's not doing well. He just sits and sulks. Not sure if he will get better at this rate," Tom admitted, a little bit worried for the creature.

"Milla'iin is tough. He won't let this keep him down forever," the M'arrillian replied with confidence.

"You think so? He was really down and just gave up," Arias grunted.

"I don't know him that well. I was frozen for a long time. I'm weaker and I got better," he replied.

Tom sighed, "During the invasion, I- I killed a few M'arrillians when they attacked our home. Was the first one to attack," he put his hand on his forehead.

"It's war Tom. It's often kill or be killed," Phelphor replied.

"I know, but I still killed someone. It's not the same for us humans," he admitted.

"You come from the Cothica, maybe you are kinder than us creatures. Especially my tribe," the M'arrillian told him.

Arias nodded, "Their world is quite different."

The pink creature put his hands on his hips, searching for something to tell the boy, "From what you told me, you helped M'arrillians to realize their mistake. You helped me, Tom. Aval'par too. Tom, if you didn't, I wouldn't be here anymore. You convinced Milla'iin to stop, from what Arias said. You saved the lives of many M'arrillians too by ending things this way. Milla'iin too."

That brought a smile to the teenager, "Yeah. I did too," a little bit of the weight of guilt was lighter on his shoulders. It wasn't gone, but it felt less heavy now, "Thanks."

The Overworlder had a small grin when the teenage boy wasn't depressed anymore.

"What is going on with my tribe? What happened with the M'arrillians?"

"Most returned to the Deep Ocean. I saw Aval'par in Chaotic," the teenager admitted.

Phelphor was once again surprised, but not in shock, "How?"

"He told me that only those who proved that they aren't going to do anything bad and agree to be under watch can come, but only three max at the same time. There are more creatures from the other tribes."

"I guess none are on the Cothica."

Tom cringed, "Earth."

Phelphor nodded, "Earth. If you wish, I'll call it that."

The human mentally sighed. He decided to take it as progress, "It's less weird for me."

The three were quiet for a while.

"What does your world look like?" The M'arrillian asked, curious. He nervously chuckled, "I was here all the time. I didn't see it."

"Since you know about our world, there will be less restrictions on what we can bring here. I'll show you a few pictures next time," he took a note to show a bit of his world to his friend, "Won't be the same as seeing it for yourself."

"Don't worry about it," he rested his back on the bar as he turned his back to them. Phelphor scratched his chin, "It must be a beautiful world."

"Yes and no," Tom replied. He turned towards Arias, "How long is he going to stay here?"

Arias raised his shoulders, "No idea. You'll have to ask Maxxor."

"I'll ask him when he's back," the teenager decided.

Once they were done, the boy and the M'arrillian continued to talk together and spoke about what they missed.

Eventually, Tom had to leave. Still, he was glad to talk with the creature and see that he was well. The teenager was sure Phelphor might have lost some weight, but that wasn't the case. It reassured him that he was okay. Still, he wished the creature could be released. He knew the chances were extremely small. Phelphor had caused and participated in the second M'arrillian war.

Tom said his good-byes and ported out.

As for the M'arrillian his spirit was higher, a smile was on his face. He was excited to see what the Cothica looked like.

Tera Motus continued to watch the humans out of sheer curiosity. He saw them from a thing called a screen in their world. Now, he saw many of them returned. He saw two humans he didn't like. He felt their nasty attitude. Still, it didn't deter his excitement. The elemental creature wondered if those four he met or the Messenger of the Cothica, who he heard about, had returned already.

It was then that he saw the boy with black hair teleport back to Chaotic. He decided to approach him. He moved his rock and ice body and stopped near him when the boy sat on his chair. "H-hi," he waved his hand a bit awkwardly when the teenager looked at him.

"Hey…" Tom looked at him. He knew he had a nagging feeling he had seen the creature before, but couldn't place when, "W-who are you?"

Tera gazed at the side, "Well… We did only see each other once. I'm Tera Motus."

It quickly clicked, "Sorry. Sorry I didn't place you. There was a lot going on and it kind of went over me."

"No problem. Your world was in trouble with those M'arrillians. My tribe didn't help on the issue," he admitted.

"Really? What happened?" He didn't know that much about how the creatures fixed the portal and came to Earth.

The creature began to explain what happened, from what he knew. The teenager listened curiously.

Kaz and Peyton came back during the middle of the explanation and also didn't recognize the creature at first glance. Peyton was the one who connected the dots quicker. They let the creature finish his story.

"Another tribe away from Perim," Kaz whispered. He gazed at the creature, "Would they cause more problems here?"

"No. They cannot teleport here anymore and those who are here have been stopped," Tera Motus replied.

"As long as they don't cause trouble, we'll be okay Kaz," Tom told him.

"I hope so," he replied.

Peyton stood up, "That's awesome! The world of Perim is bigger than we thought! There is a new tribe somewhere to see! Maybe even more than we know about!"

"I'm just happy we can come back here for now," Tom replied.

"Me too. We can think of a big adventure another time."

"Fine," Peyton sighed, but agreed. He sat down.

The rock and ice creature chuckled at their little interaction. He then talked a bit more about his tribe, to satisfy some of their curiosity.

AC: This is the end of this part.

Next: The Deal

The leader of the tribes finished the deal with the humans.